FOMO Causes Young People To Spend Too Much Time Online

By Professor Andy Phippen, Plymouth University

22nd March 2018

3-4 min read

SWGfL has today (Tuesday 20 March 2018) published a report looking at screentime and its role on young people's wellbeing. Among other things, It shows that many young people said “Fear of Missing Out” is one of the main reasons they will spend “too much” time online.

The report into the effects of Screentime is the first in a series, titled Young People, Internet Use and Wellbeing in the UK. Compiled by Professor Andy Phippen from Plymouth University, the series explores the role of technology on young people’s wellbeing. Each report in the series will have a specific area of focus, such as gender, age differences, and what harmful content means to young people. It assesses data provided by more than 6,620 young people from year 4 to year 13 across over 100 schools in the UK.

Key Findings

The primary finding from this analysis is that there is a clear a link between the amount of time a young person spends online and their exposure to upset, risk, and issues related to wellbeing. Additionally many young people said “fear of missing out” is one of the main reasons they will spend “too much” time online.

Through our analysis, we can see clear correlations between screen time and wellbeing, with some specific findings being:

The older young people get the more time they spend online

Males are more likely than females to be heavy online users

Those who spend a lot of time online are more likely to see upsetting content, receive abusive comments, or send abuse to others

Heavy online users are more likely to worry about how much time they spend online, and worry about what they have seen

Heavy users are more likely to go online because they are lonely

Overall analysis on this sample shows first that there are some young people who spend a lot of time online, with a third of spending more than 3 hours a day online, and just over 10% declaring that they spend in excess of 6 hours a day online.

This research raises further questions around what motivates young people’s online behaviours, and it is clear that this is an area that requires further research. Over the coming years SWGfL, as part of its work as a partner in the UK Safer Internet Centre, will be working with HeadStart Kernow to explore the subject, as well as the social and emotional impacts of the online world, in order to inform future support for schools, families and communities.

The analysis of this large survey shows that there is a very clear link between screentime and the likelihood that young people might be exposed to abuse or upsetting content.

While our analysis can’t tell us WHY this is the case, that data is very clear that excessive screentime can lead to higher risk of upset

Andy Phippen, Professor of Social Responsibility in IT at the University of Plymouth

We have seen over recent months that some aspects of being online is having a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of children and young people.

This report clearly highlights some of these aspects, in particular the strong correlations illustrating gender differences in the extent of online use and also the children who spend an increased amount of time online are more likely to see upsetting content, receive abusive comments, or send abuse to others.

The conclusions from this report must now be used as a stepping stone towards further research that can give us a clearer understanding of the reasons behind young people’s online behaviours, so that we may better support them in the future